Twiga Holdings, the parent company of Kenya’s B2B eCommerce platform, Twiga Foods has entered into agreement with three food distributors Jumra (serving Nairobi and Central regions), Sojpar (serving the Western region), and Raisons (serving the Coastal region) to accelerate its growth and focus on technology tools for distribution.
Jumra, Sojpar, and Raisons will integrate with Twiga’s capabilities to better serve wholesalers, mini-marts, dukas, kiosks, and mama mbogas (green grocers).
According to Twiga CEO Charles Ballard, “This transaction represents a pivotal moment in our journey. It not only concludes our transformation but also inaugurates a new period of sustainable growth, innovation, and unparalleled customer service. With our combined capabilities, we are uniquely positioned to be the partner of choice for suppliers and customers throughout Kenya.”
This deal will see industry veterans Raju Shah and Bijal Shah from Jumra, and Sunil Shah from Sojpar lead operations, ensuring stability and sustained growth while Twiga refocuses its resources on accelerating the development and deployment of technology-driven solutions for the general trade ecosystem.
This strategic alignment underscores Twiga’s commitment to modernizing Kenya’s food distribution landscape, combining these established distributors’ deep market knowledge, operational excellence, and cost-efficient practices with its advanced technology and analytics, brand development resources, best-in-class procurement expertise in fresh fruits and vegetables, and deep insights and reach in Kenya’s informal retail market. The combined strengths will also enable a digitally powered distribution model that delivers enhanced value to Kenyan retailers and consumers.
Twiga will leverage the distributors’ strategically positioned warehouses and large delivery fleets to accelerate Twiga’s cost-efficient national scaling. This will see Twiga resume operations in Kenya’s Western Region, where it previously enjoyed considerable success. Further expansion to other regions is planned in the coming quarters.
Twiga’s strategic focus also places technology-driven innovation at its core. The company continues to invest in its digital platform to provide seamless ordering, inventory management tools, and innovative financing options including buy-now-pay-later solutions.
The distribution partners will also assume some of Twiga’s operational responsibilities in the new collaboration. This will further enhance efficiencies and long-term sustainability of the combined entities, while expanding their distribution lines to unlock new growth opportunities.
Twiga is assembling a high-impact leadership team to deliver on its ambitions. Key members include Mr. Paul Bombo (Technology), Mr. Ankur Agarwal (Supply Chain), Mr. Felix Okumu (Internal Audit), and Ms. Ekua Nkyekyer (Joining Twiga to lead its Finance function). This team brings long-standing experience and a solid understanding of Kenya’s tech and distribution sectors, and is well positioned to support Twiga’s next phase of growth.
Twiga Holdings’ reference shareholders, Creadev and Juven, remain steadfast in their commitment to transforming Africa’s retail ecosystem through technology and market innovation, delivering sustainable value to all stakeholders.
The Chairman of Twiga Holdings, Hein Pretorius said, “We are confident in the combined expertise and dynamic leadership of Charles, Raju, and Sunil. We are particularly delighted to partner with Raju and Sunil, whose deep-rooted, generational knowledge of the Kenyan distribution ecosystem strengthens Twiga’s value proposition. Their complementary strengths will undoubtedly propel the group to become the food distribution champion in the region.”
